JP Post for 06.10.2011
About Setting Up for Plein Air Oil Painting in Foreign Parts.
TSA confiscated my painting mediums in Boston so identify sources where you are going. I found 123 Coulours in Toulouse. Getting there from the airport in a rented car was a white-knuckle adventure in itself. YOU WILL TAKE A TAXI NEXT TIME. The oil in paint in tubes was OK and has flown cross-country as well. I now pack MSDS sheets with the paints. The easel is a Julian half box from Utrecht Arts, designed by a French artist while he was a prisoner of war. It fits in my large suitcase with room for my tube paints in a separate plastic box, an ArtBin, leaving room for a few socks and shirts. Small plastic jars are for medium and thinner. The tin with lid is 8” x 3” x 1” deep and lined with Canson disposable palette. I hold the lid in my hand as a working palette to mix the paint. I am looking for something larger. When it is time to go simply put on the lid stuff it in your backpack. The small dabs of tube paint seem sufficient to get me through a day, though I am a slow, cautious painter building up thin layers, hanging on to the under drawing, leaving the impasto to the final yahoo-go-for-it stage. The tin can be put in the freezer over night to extend the open life of the paint. I will carry a about five tubes of the more heavily used paints, for me burnt umber, raw and burnt sienna, flake white replacement, cobalt blue, French ultramarine. In the future, for travel, I will carry smaller tubes for travel. The weight and bulk add up.
Oh, and one last thing, whatever you do, do not forget to have the leggy lady in the sunny alfalfa behind you reading a P.D. James mystery novel.
JP
thanks for the info JP..if and when i travel i will be that much more informed..i paint with acrylics do you think that might "fly" better?....keep the great posts and pics coming...love the rolling cheese cart!
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